I splurged recently and ordered the cool Assassin Skeledrones from Skeletron . I've tried to resist jumping on the action figure bandwagon, but I couldn't resist these. They are scaled for 4" action figures but I think I can use these with my 28mm skirmish games. They have a Rifts vibe to them that I dig! If I get to run Wretched Space they should fit right in as well.
Slightly different post this morning. The bulk of my gaming has been RPG's, mostly D&D, but long time blog readers know I like all kinds of genres, especially Post Apocalyptic related and Sci Fi. Many, many years ago, like back in the 80's! I got to play a game of Rogue Trader with a buddy and a relative visiting from out of town. My relative had brought this new game called Warhammer 40K. The minis were soo cool. Legos were used to build a cityscape on the dining room table, and we had two rival Eldar forces battling it out all afternoon. I loved it and wanted to play it more but no one around me played it, and back then you couldn't get the miniatures in this part of the country. Remember this was the 80's and no internet and no hobby shops in my region. By the time I got the original rules and had a squad, a new edition was out..by the time I pieced together an army for that edition, that edition had more rigid force building rules and "regulations" compared to the original, another edition came out rendering my unpainted force obsolete. Then the same thing happened to me with Necromunda. I got rid of my 40K minis (long story) and moved fully back to RPG's.
Prior to Covid, I had started playing Zona Alfa with a buddy, just as we were getting into the flow of the game and started meeting regularly, Covid hit and put an end to all of that. Looking back into my blog, it is hard to believe that was two years ago. Wow, the pandemic really messes with your concept of time.
Lately I've been once again dipping my toes into the world of tabletop skirmish gaming. Well, to be honest I've been looking into it. I pillaged some online Black Friday sales to order some cool Sci Fi minis. I have a nice collection of Fantasy minis and terrain, but Sci Fi is where I am lacking. Especially enough pieces to field any kind of skirmish units. I prefer small scale stuff. I'm not looking to field massive armies.
It's nice to see that miniature agnostic and setting agnostic games seem to be more of the thing now. Current trends remind me of the original 40K Rogue Trader build your own stuff days. Some of my D&D buddies and I have been looking into what skirmish systems are out there, lots of options. Stargrave, One Page Rules, (I'm not doing Kill Team!, GW will get no more of my money, this isn't an anti GW rant, if you enjoy their games great!), Wiley Games stuff, Space Weirdos, Star Breach, Space Station Zero, Zona Alfa, Planet 28 and more. I'm hoping 2023 will allow for me to have a return to tabletop skirmish gaming.
Wish me luck! -B.B.
Hope everyone is doing well. Work and real life have derailed any face-to-face gaming for the time being, however, when I get a little quiet time, I continue to have fun with the tools that The Lizard Man Diaries blog has made available. I'm still in a Sci Fi mood after running my recent 5E Campaign, and I'd like to run a Wretched Space face to face game at some point., So, by using the Matrix Spiel Solo rules, with Wretched Space as a framework, I can play around in my own little OSR Sci Fi Sandbox and do some fun campaign development at the same time.
Last session the outlaw Absolom Wroth, in his hubris, had over-estimated his gang's abilities (The Relentless Bastards) and had seen his entire gang wiped out by the remnants of a group of Red Reign Mercenaries. Absolom, fled into the ruins to lick his wounds. I've decided to pick up with the story here, I'm curious to see what happens to Absolom Wroth...will he survive to become a more significant character, or will he meet his end on the ruined world of Charund?
The blue glow in the image makes me wonder what is within the ruined chapel?
What is the blue glow? I'll generate another random card and get... Turbulent Dreams... "Laquatus dreams of seizing control." So within the "Chapel" is a dormant A.I.. It calls itself Laquatus X. If it can be "released" it wants to seize control.. I imagine dotted across Charund and in orbit above the planet are a variety of military defense installations, satellites, in various states of disrepair.. Laquatus X if freed of it's current state wants to seize any available assets and take over! Absolom's presence within the building has triggered something that enables Laquatus to start to overcome the mechanisms and programs keeping it dormant!!! Can the Chapel regain control and keep the rogue AI in its slumber state?
Turn 3
Absolom has entered the ruined chapel, drawn to the eerie blue glow
emanating from the structure. Machinery gives off a low hum, he fumbles
around with the consoles hoping to find some means to get a way off of
Charund. Inadvertently he triggers something. Machinery starts
powering up, something is coming online!!
Isolated Chapel Problem List
Isolated Chapel Problem List
I'm a big fan of The Lizard Man Diaries blog. He recently posted about his Matrix Spiel system that allows for solo play. I had some downtime today and thought I would take the rules for a spin to see what would happen. Most of the art I created using various A.I. art generators (except Order of Red Reign skull picture). The NPC's and factions were in my notes for a "maybe one day" Campaign using the Wretched Space rules. I've had Wretched Space for a short while, but haven't talked about it yet. "Wretched Space is an old-school role-playing game designed to play anti-hero characters in a cinematic setting. In Wretched Space, the genre is space opera. But unlike most other space operas, this one isn’t about heroic characters whose actions have significant consequences for the future of civilization. Here you are meant to play on a smaller scale, and the higher purpose your character serves is his own self-interest. That doesn't imply you're playing a villain. You can still traverse the galaxy, enjoying extraordinary adventures and possibly even helping others. The characters will most likely commit crimes and exhibit contempt for other people's rights and well being, but perhaps they will wind up saving the day after all."
The Setting: Charund- Once a technologically
advanced world, now a vast ruined wasteland, with lost tech, horrific
dangers and death lurking within its forgotten vaults and ruins.
Initial Problem List:
·
Various warring factions
vie for control of the ruined world, wanting to loot the lost tech for themselves.
· Dangerous mutants, rogue robots and other monstrous beasts lurk within the ruins preying on explorers, scavengers and
each other, making the ruins quite deadly to scavengers and explorers.
Lord Eldrake
Action: Lord Eldrake desires the Scrolls of Seraphasma, he has gained a tip that the scrolls may be located within a ruined data archive located deep within the ruined city of Malac on the planet Charund. He hires a band of adventurers to investigate the ruined archives and recover the scrolls or anything about them that they can find. Result: Failure, A potentially dangerous negative outcome. New Problem: The adventurers have betrayed Lord Eldrake, they were captured by a gang of outlaws (The Relentless Bastards) and have traded the location of the lost data archives to the gang leader in order to spare their lives. The gang leader murdered the adventurers after he had gotten all he could out of them. The outlaws now know the location of the ruined data archives and the adventurers Lord Eldrake hired are dead (bodies tossed out of an airlock).
Turn 2:
Action: Thanks to his agents and informants, Lord Eldrake knows the adventurers he hired are likely dead and that others know of the location of the data archives. (The Relentless Bastards, have big mouths and like to brag). Lord Eldrake must act quickly to get another group onsite before others take the Scrolls for themselves (if the scrolls are even there...). Result: Success, Desired outcome is just barely, and temporarily, achieved. - By dipping heavily into his contacts and assets, Lord Eldrake is able to hire skilled mercenaries, members of the infamous Order of the Red Reign, that get to the site before The Relentless Bastards do, however, the mercenaries get there just barely before the outlaws do and are still exploring within the ruined archives, when the gang arrives.
Absolom Wroth's Problem List
·
Absolom only
recently seized control of The Relentless Bastards. Absolom challenged the
previous leader, to a duel and killed him in combat. Absolom needs a big score to prove he has
what it takes to lead this band.
·
Absolom , is a
bit "off his rocker" to say the least, he is obsessed with blades,
and enjoys inflicting pain. He even talks to his favorite knife, this puts his
followers ill at ease, his bizarre behavior could lead to him being overthrown.
Turn 3:
Action: The Red Reign
Mercenaries search the Data Archives,
looking for the Scrolls of Seraphasma, or information about them...
Red Reign Mercenary
Result: Failure, An immediately dangerous negative outcome. The Red Reign Mercenaries, unintentionally activate/awaken the formerly dormant defense A.I. of the facility. The Data Archives, were for military applications and thus had far more advanced and dangerous defense measures than anticipated. All hell breaks loose! Advanced wardroids attack the mercenaries hard, if not for the skills of the mercs and advanced age and poor condition of the machines, the mercenaries would have been totally annihilated.
WarDroid
The surviving mercenaries retreat from the ruined facility. The scrolls were never within this archive and whatever data regarding their location that may have been there is now destroyed in the aftermath of the fight with the machines.
Red Reign Mercenary Problem List:
·
Badly injured by
wardroids, low on ammo and numbers
·
Still have to get
past The Relentless Bastards and back to their ship
Action: The Relentless
Bastards attack the remnants of the Red Reign Mercenaries
Result: Success, Desired outcome is confidently achieved.- The Relentless Bastards annihilate the remnants of the Red Reign Mercenaries. New Entity: prior to being destroyed, the Red Reign Mercenary leader broadcast their status and the face of Absolom Wroth to his ship.
Absolom Wroth
The Relentless Bastards seize what is left of the mercenaries gear, including the location of their craft. This action proves, at least for now, Absolom is a worthy leader of The Relentless Bastards.
Problem: Hated by The Red Reign Mercenary Order
Lord Eldrake
Problem: Lost his only lead on the possible location of the Scrolls
of Seraphasma
Spent a ton of money on the Red Reign Mercenaries only for them to have failed, and the Order may hold Lord Eldrake responsible for their losses.
Turn 4:
Absolom leads The Relentless Bastards to seize the Red Reign's ship.
Result: Failure, Catastrophic negative outcome to attempter. The Red Reign skeleton crew left on the Mercenary's ship and alerted by the now deceased main group, sets a trap for Absolom and his gang, Absolom's gang is obliterated and only Absolom escapes, vowing revenge!
Turn 5:
Absolom flees and goes into
hiding, licking his wounds to fight another day.
The Red Reign sends Lord
Eldrake a hefty bill
Lord Eldrake is no closer to
finding the Scrolls of Seraphasma and poorer for his efforts.
Happy Sunday to everyone!
I hope this post finds you well. I've had a few folks ask about my 5E Campaign. We were able to get in about 13 sessions before the real world caught up with us. Job changes and general work hectic stuff, folks got married, illnesses, etc... The player's characters had made 5th level. Unfortunately we didn't get to end the campaign on a note of completion, but we had some great experiences. I guess this is sort of a lessons learned post campaign wrap up sort of thing.
Session Zero: I think this really helped the campaign. I intend to do this next time I start up a new campaign.
5E: While not perfect, the system has grown on me. I consider myself an OSR, old school DM, but I was able to run 5E with an old school approach (for the most part). 5th level hit some significant milestones, and the characters were pretty tough compared to what I had expected. They trounced some of my encounters in the last session. I will say with 5E, I can "throw" a lot more monsters and foes at the party than say in an OSE or C&C game.
Milestone Leveling: this was another new approach for me, and I think it met the needs of the group. I may not do this every campaign, but it was nice method for this campaign.
Minis and Terrain: I used minis and terrain for every session, the players loved it, but I did find myself spending a lot of time making sure I had the right minis and terrain for every session, even custom built some terrain pieces. Some of which weren't used. This was fun, but made session prep more involved.
So what's next? We have discussed starting up a new campaign after the first of the year. Hopefully by then things will have calmed down for everyone and we can resume some sort of play.
None of us are interested in D&D One or 6E or whatever it is, sounds like it has a significant virtual component and I don't enjoy virtual play. We have talked about a new 5E campaign, but are reviewing options. Currently I find myself interested in some Sci Fi, I've GM'd a TON of fantasy over the years, and a good bit of P.A. (Gamma World!!!), but very little Sci Fi RPGing. I ran one Stars Without Number campaign that ended with a TPK after 4 sessions. I did run some classic Traveller in high school/college, but that was a LOOOONG time ago.
Well thanks for reading and Good Gaming! -B.B.
Thought I would continue my posts about using DC Comic's The Warlord as inspiration for a Hyperborea RPG Campaign. Issue #2 has some solid content, a fight with some Saber Toothed Tigers and The Warlord ends up getting captured by Drogar, a deceitful fighter that ends up being the captain of a slaver ship. Thought Drogar would make for an interesting villain/NPC encounter. Brief write-up below!
Drogar the Terrible
(stats as Bandit Captain Hyperborea Referee's Manual P. 80, has weapon mastery with long sword and short bow- +1 to hit and damage) Speaks Seafarer version of Thieves' Cant
Gryfalcon Crew (25 - stats as Bandit P. 80, speak seafarer version of Thieves Cant)
Drogar the Terrible is the captain of the Slave Galley Gryfalcon. He has a crew of 25 ruffian/fighter types that keep the slaves/rowers in line and to repel boarders and other pirates. Drogar is a clever captain, he seldom risks his own skin and men in a fight, preferring to use trickery and guile to get what he wants. He is no coward, but a dead man can't spend his hard won gold.
Gryfalcon (Phoenician Galley)
Serpentine Wine - This evil brew is said to have been originally concocted by the foul Snake-Men. A few especially evil human magi are also believed to have also learned how to brew this sorcerous wine. Anyone drinking this dark red wine must immediately make a saving throw versus Transformation or be turned into a snake (roll a d4 : 1=asp, 2=rattlesnake, 3=spitting cobra, 4=viper). In all aspects the afflicted is for all intents and purposes a snake, they lose their intellect and any special abilities. They are also susceptible to a Snake-man's Command Serpents ability. This wicked wine is thankfully rare and difficult to brew, it acts as a variant of the Polymorph Other spell. Casting Dispel Magic will reverse the effects, as will, the death of the afflicted.
Happy to say we had our 9th session of our 5E Campaign last night. May seem like a minor milestone to many, but for our group of folks with hectic jobs, families, busy schedules and other obligations, nine consistent 4 hour+ sessions is pretty good. I honestly think that having a true Session Zero has made a huge difference in the overall quality of the campaign. The players had input in the setting and we all had clear expectations of the game and group from the beginning. The party has had several close calls, and lost a gnome henchman in session 8. I'm more of an OSR DM, so running 5E has been an interesting process for me. I've applied my Old School mindset to the game and the players have learned to avoid combat where they can, fight on their own terms when they can't. Early on they went into a few encounters "guns blazing" and about had a couple of TPK's (when you are at 0 hit points, the monsters can and will continue to attack if the situation fits, leading to failed death saves very quickly!).
This session had a lot of roleplay. They have managed a loose alliance with a small group of Myconids, dealt with some renegade mercenaries preying on innocent folk, and have established a community/encampment (at the old farm site they cleared in Session 2) for a growing group of refugees that the party freed from a hobgoblin fort back in Session 5. They have crossed the local (rogue) prince of the Kingdom of Valorn and are now wanted for crimes against the kingdom in that region (They determined early on the prince was corrupt and had his own agenda seeking power and domination, while he worked to undermine his father the king). The group also managed to find a "Stargate", now getting it to work reliably and whom (if anyone) to tell about it, is another matter entirely...
A follow up to yesterday's post. Over the weekend I had to run into the local Five Below store and happened to go down the toy aisle..when I spotted the COBRA F.A.N.G. Copter!!! Love that classic cover art from back in the day.
I always wanted the original action figure version of this as a kid back in the 80's, but never had one, so of course I had to grab this! Ok, I grabbed two of them! Yesterday, I finally had a bit of free time to assemble one of them, with it being 99 degrees outside (110 when you factor in the heat index), staying indoors and playing with ..er I mean assembling Legos ...well Construction Blocks, is smart right?
Nice little vehicle that captures the look and feel of the original. Now I need to find a set of skirmish rules that will allow me to use it in some tabletop gaming!
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It's been awhile, but long time followers of my blog will know that I am an AFOL (Adult Fan of Lego). In particular I love the minifigs. Pictured above is the results of a rather long term project of picking up any of the Lego Chima Gorilla minifigures that I could find, while outfitting them with appropriate weapons and gear. Combat knives, Assault Rifles and Tactical Vests. Not sure about the leader with the Katana and Owl, but we shall see. Anyways, I present to you The Monkey Militia. I should have waited till Saturday to post this, for a Simian Saturday post, but here it is early. I'm hoping to work these into some Skirmish gaming soon. Maybe as a rival gang for Five Parsecs from Home, Space Weirdos, or something else? Do any of you use lego Minifigs for your tabletop games?
